tremors

sudden tremors
have shaken me
and exposed
fault lines
I did not know
I lived on

I cannot decide
which emotion
should carry this hour—
shock surprise shame
anger fear doubt
determination—
was my security
in any way false
for its faulty premise?
was it without
a solid foundation
or did its ability
to hold me up
(for a time)
prove its strength?
must I be stable
to feel so?
was my confidence
unfounded?
was my momentum
a lie if by luck?

I wonder
at the wonder
of balance
I marvel
at the marvel
of wholeness
I fight gravity
daily

I sense
that my senses
have deluded me
that my concentration
has become diluted
that a convenient definition
of success
has defined me
that I have been
distracted by dollars
duped by duplicity
and rendered pound foolish
from impulsive investments
in relational scams
I have looked
for sure footing
in what is
and ever was
quicksand
even at my seeming best
my confidence at its apex
forces far stronger than I
were building pressure
I slept not on bedrock
but patient fault lines
and now I question
my perception
muscles taut
senses poised
and wait for aftershocks

April 2008

GAAP

the lens of the law—
the Old Law
the O.T.
the stone tablets
that Moses,
face still glowing
and clothes still smoky
from the mountain top,
dropped in his shock
to shatter in pieces
in response
to a profane lapse
of memory
and identity
then were hand-chiseled again—
this metaphor
of morality
this relational barometer
of dust to divine
has evolved
with the people
for whom it was articulated
then all was
or was not
Torah
this is good
this is Torah
that is false
that is not Torah
our subjective substitute
is borne of our bookkeeping brethren:
we analyze
based on generally accepted accounting principals
this is GAAP
that is not GAAP
this is market
its aim is the same:
to, somehow,
by circling a thing,
to get at its essence
to discover its truth
to glean its good
and to glimpse God
that we may see Him
that we may know Him
that we may know ourselves
Torah was not the end
GAAP is not the final say
both capture
represent
and point the way

all truth is God’s
scattered, sown
directed, broadcast
freely amongst
every soil
in every climate
with the same
profane
dust-loving
deliberate abandon
as was and is the Word
which was with God
and was God
from the beginning
His Word that is Truth
and all Truth is God

April 2008

season of giving

celebration springs
blooms, sprouts, buds, shoots and colors
birthday gifts for all

April 2008